un-fiction

a quote....

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:20:00 +0000

A quote from "Boys Life" by Robert R. McCammon (1991) that I think you'll enjoy.....

“You know, I do believe in magic. I was born and raised in a magic time, in a magic town, among magicians. Oh, most everybody else didn’t realize we lived in that web of magic, connected by silver filaments of chance and circumstance. But I knew it all along. When I was twelve years old, the world was my magic lantern, and by its green spirit glow I saw the past, the present and into the future. You probably did too; you just don’t recall it. See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible. Told to act our age. Told to grow up, for God’s sake. And you know why we were told that? Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they’d allowed to wither in themselves.

After you go so far away from it, though, you can’t really get it back. You can have seconds of it. Just seconds of knowing and remembering. When people get weepy at movies, it’s because in that dark theatre the golden pool of magic is touched, just briefly. Then they come out into the hard sun of logic and reason again and it dries up, and they’re left feeling a little heartsad and not knowing why. When a song stirs a memory, when motes of dust turning in a shaft of light takes your attention from the world, when you listen to a train passing on a track at night in the distance and wonder where it might be going, you step beyond who you are and where you are. For the briefest of instants, you have stepped into the magic realm.

That’s what I believe. “

Article: Augmenting Reality, Transforming Learning

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:03:00 +0000

I recently had an article published in Colab's Journal of Creative Technologies (2011) Issue 2. It explores the potential for Augmented and Alternate Reality Gaming to transform the way we learn. Comments welcome on site.

hyperRitual and the Electric Wizard

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:22:00 +0000

Joshua Madara is an electric wizard who manifests technomagical artefacts and rituals by merging together archane practices and creative technologies (eg. arduino, kinect). I spoke to him today after a friend told me about his work in Seattle, and the alignments with my own philosophies and practices.

What I found interesting was his passion for cybernetics, and the creative ways in which he links these ideas with magical practice. Essentially his work marries archane with modern day technology.

Joshua has had a lifelong interest in magic but only in the last decade or so, partly inspired by the work of William Burroughs (literary figure and chaos magic practitioner), he has merged his practice with his skills in electronics and programming.

Joshua works across the spectrum from classical rituals, to small magical/techo experiments to large scale multimedia hyper ritualistic experiences but because his work is not traditional enough for many pagans, and far too esoteric for programmers, he carves out his practice in the fringes. His blog is extremely interesting and he has a couple of good articles on his site that are a good read. Take a look.

8 Realities in One Day....

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:05:00 +0000

I have experienced a lot of different 'realities' in my time via my experiences in Central America (and NZ) with sorcerers and shamans, through meditating at sacred and haunted sites around the world, from attending (and running) consciousness shifting workshops, plus other less publishable stuff. Lets just say it's been a interesting life.

However it was in humble old Auckland that I had one of my most interesting experiences - an encounter with 8 different realities in one day.

Several weeks ago I gave the unit's talented first year BCT students (located in Interdisciplinary Unit of AUT University's Faculty of Art and Design.) the the task of creating an alternate reality that travelled across physical and digital space - essentially a transmedia narrative/game. The result was a intriguing mix of worlds filled with wonder, paranoia, uncertainty and excitement. The sample 'run-through' of each reality lasted 30 minutes, although the realities would normally run for much longer and be enacted on a much larger scale. I was assisted on the day by my colleague Gabriel Teo and Roy Davies an Augmented Reality expert. In this blog I want to highlight the skill of the students involved and give you a taste of each of their games....

For our first reality were were catapulted into a world hyper-surveillance. In this world, the Urawera Anti-Terror Raids led to killings by the authorities BCT students were mysteriously missing after discovering this dark secret. In the beginning a detective came into our office to quiz us on student movements. My interrogation was then interrupted by a dramatic phone call by one of the students to tell us they were being hunted. From there we were led to a secret folder containing an intriguing mix of 'real' news articles and those that were 'created'. This play on authenticity and truth invited us to reflect on our assumed trust in media and authorities and was a key success point of the creation of this reality.

The next experience took us into the past, and the life of a master perfumer (inspired by the movie 'Perfume'). Our job was to fulfill his last wish and put together the ultimate perfume. By using symbols revealed in his mysterious journal- the top, base and middle notes of the perfume were tracked across the building (aided by music and scent trails) and eventually brought to the perfume maker for integration.

The multi-sensory aspect was unique and very successful part of this project but at a certain point the smells became overwhelming. At one point, by unhappy coincidence, a woman entered our lift and sprayed deodorant all over herself as the doors closed. We almost collapsed. This was a really fun reality to experience that left a mark on us and our cloths for the rest of the day.

After leaving this sensorial, old world reality, the next world we encountered was extremely hi-tech. Disturbingly so. After being delivered a phone via courier, we were fed information via Twitter which sent us to various areas of the building. QR codes fed information to us to show us that our world was being targeted by a group intent on stealing our reality, killing humanity and selling our world to interdimensional tourists (nice). Adverts were leaked to us showing how our (empty) world was marketed to potential interdimensional immigrants and footage also sent of damage done to other realities in the action of stealing them). Other video elements added to the intrigue. The technical quality of the artifacts (including original music composition in the videos and some great special effects), and the use of live interactive feed were major areas of success for this student group.

After a short break to compose ourselves we were told to report to the Headquarters of The Regulation (I had been sent an identity form the night before which I was required to present on arrival- see photo right). Bodyguards dressed in black greeted me and my colleagues at the door and we were taken into a disturbingly dark room where our personal items were removed and an introductory video shown to us informing us of 'The Rules'.We were then given MP3/pods and headphones and taken on a tour of the streets surrounding the building. The audio track walked us through a tour of a dystopian Auckland city where well known buildings such as the Town Hall become centres of oppression and re-education. As we passed the Auckland Library the audio was interrupted by an insurgent broadcast by The Adjustment and a member of this organisation (one of the students) started running and screaming at us.

The bodyguards (who were trailing us) grabbed the intruder and forcibly removed him. We were then rushed back inside to learn that we were being tested on our obediance and loyalty and that only one of us (not me) had passed. The immersive audio in this experience, the attention to live production elements like the many extras that were brought in to pepper the space in fore and background, and the cohesion of the materials used made this a very unsettling, professionally executed experience.

The next reality provided light, joyful relief. It was based around childhood realities where robots could speak and magical tea-parties spontaneously appeared at the bottom of your garden. To enter this reality we crawled through a cardboard tunnel, opened a treasure box and extracted a giant talking cardboard robot from underneath a pile of boxes. The computer generated voice of the robot ( 'Jimbot') gave us a map, explained we were to use it and then invited us on walk out of the building and down the streets (much to the amusement of the passers by). After we left Jimbot floundering on steep hill we came upon The Wild Boys dancing around in grass skirts.

Wooden Puzzle QR Code

They showed us how to pop some nearby balloons with wooden weapons, and inside we found wooden soldered QR code puzzle 'blocks'. After assembling these together and photographing the resulting QR code we followed the clue to an orange flowered garden where a mad tea party was taking place. After making us perform a series of odd tasks the bizarrely believable mad Alice character spilled tea all over the tablecloth to reveal our next clue. From there we encountered a disturbing flasher who temped us with a chocolate bar on a fishing line and finally, of course, Santa Clause who gave us a magical present. This realities success came from the authenticity and innovation shown in each childhood reality and the commitment of each actor/student in to their respective roles

Next up was a morality quest based on spiritual virtues and slightly more esoteric theme.The group created a mysterious group called G.U.R.U / (Guidance under the Rule of the Universe -a group of enlightened beings) who assisted us to move through a series of 'trials' overlaid on a map

in order to find pieces of parchment that, when pieced together, reveal previously hidden truths.

Beginning with a mysterious email with a link to the website and a map that can be downloaded, the game starts in earnest when a stranger hands a package to the player, containing instructions, the transparent map overlay, and a camera. When the map and overlay are placed together, they reveal the locations of the tasks ahead. The tasks themselves were technically and creatively very interesting, and it definitely felt as if different aspects of ourselves were being tested which was the point of the game. They were: a wiki race with 'Plato' as the end point and 'knot' as the beginning (try this yourself!); a puzzle testing patience; a very tricky memory test involving a programmed machine and projector that punched out combinations of colours and numbers (and almost did me in); and a knotted box that tested perseverance (which we cheated on by tearing the knot off as a whole from the side of the box). I probably failed the existential tests but felt as if there were some great areas of learning in a short space of time with some interesting themes and ideas behind the tasks.

We entered our next reality via a screaming madman running into our studio. As he is was carted off by goons he dropped a piece of paper covered with crazed scrawls that led us into a reality that is the real history of what occurred after the Cuban Missile Crisis ended in nuclear devastation. A scrawl on the paper led us to a blog which tasked us with reuniting him with material he has lost. This material exposes a dark secret involving human experimentation and layers of lies. Along the way, were given the moral choice of turning him into the authorities but we voted to help him (good liberals that we are).

The acting was very well done in this reality, as was the attention to research detail, and resulting authenticity, of the alternate history story. Interestingly there is a whole genre of alternate history writing and gaming - including a great forum for anyone interested in this work.

In our final reality walk-through, a (fake) gunshot in another part of the studio led us to a murder scene and a reality involving a terrorist bomb plot against NZ government who have sent troops to a secret war now raging in Pakistan. This reality successfully located the ARG in a physical scene or installation - a sort of home base where we returned over and over again to to find new clues and piece together what was really going on. There was some nice programming involved to find hidden clues using photo scanning technology and also for the sophisticated cracking of the bombs code. A very effectively (newly) sub-titled Osama Bin-Laden video (which I didn't allow them to make public on YouTube!) was one of the highlights adding a disturbingly authentic element to the overall experience.

At the end of the day I felt ontologically fried, but quite a few learning points had emerged: how best to manage 'live'feeds (e.g twitter, texts) when the signal can be patchy; how to build 'cohesive' and immersive realities when you don't have complete control over the spaces involved; how to work safely when dealing with the innocent public?; how to build atmosphere over a period of time; how to create truly authentic artifacts on a limited (no) budget. Lots of good stuff to work with if we run this project again, or the student's want to take the work further individually next year.

I notice that I now view the streets surrounding the building differently. Playful and disturbing memories are now overlaid on what were tired or overlooked physical spaces. The landscape in and around our building is now littered with the energies of strange mix of imaginal worlds. This layering of realities is the focus of my PHD project and this project, thanks to the great work of the students, has helped me really see the potential of this material to change the way we engage with our landscapes and create learning experiences within diverse communities.

Comments and questions welcome.....

[All photos and visual works in this blog were kindly provided by the students. Please do not reproduce without permission. If you want more information, or to contact the students directly, please let me know and I will forward the information to them]

PS: In the days before and after the game I became a little paranoid not knowing what was coming at me next. For example a court bailiff left a officious calling card in my front door and I wondered if the students had found my address and sent this as part of one of their realities. After ringing the Ministry of Justice I found out it was a case of mistaken identity. Someone else's dark reality.

Cyber Pitchforks and the Rise of the Fifth Estate

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:55:00 +0000

In latter half of the 20^th century the traditional ‘estates’ (nobility, elected politicians and clergy) were no longer trusted to bring us ‘the truth’. Their ‘truths’ became hollow, undermined by scandal, war driven cynicism and the rise of the ‘fourth estate’ in the form of enormous print and television based media empires.

But as we reach the second decade of our hyper-connected 21^st century world, the fourth estate is now also in crisis. Television faces ever declining numbers and the credibility of print media has been shaken thanks to the unethical behaviour of profit-starved corporations like News International.

And so rises the ‘fifth estate’. Initially describing the cybercitizens of the blogosphere, the term is now expanding to include the micro-story sharing, opinionated communities of Twitter, Facebook and Google+. And they are not to be underestimated. The fifth estate are not content to be spoon fed reality by those in power, and are instead utilising collaboration and social connection tools to negotiate a reality that is not only more just and transparent, but fundamentally egalitarian. The cyber masses are using social media (usually via mobile devices) to cut through antiquated bureaucracy and moribund structures in order to engage in everything from mass violent protests to disaster relief efforts.

But there is a downside. Emoticons may have replaced pitchforks and torchers, but the mob mentality is still clearly evident.

Almost every week we can witness howling online groups whipping themselves into righteous indignation on the pages of Facebook or the communities of Twitter. CEO’s, presidents, dictators, police commissioners, celebrity adulterers – they have all been brought down by cyber mobs and rapacious bloggers in the last two years. In the meantime mainstream media have become followers not leaders of lid-blowing stories.

Many recent falls from grace (i.e. Murdoch, Mubarak, Gaddafi) are often seen to be morally justified. But this same mentality is also responsible for a rise in suicides and business failures directly related to cyber-bullying and cyber-slander.

Our society is changing very rapidly as the social media and mobile media revolutions gain pace. Every institutional system we currently take for granted – education, police, intelligence and defence, business, government- is struggling to deal with the massive shift in power that is occurring. Nobody is openly talking about it, but a low level of panic is setting in as the degree of change occurring becomes clear and the lack of preparedness of the technophobic Boomer generation is revealed.

I am not saying that the revolution that is occurring is in any way bad, or that it wasn’t inevitable with the exponential shifts in technology we have seen in recent years. But I am nervous that there has been a great deal of transferred over to the fifth estate in the last 3 years, without any associated efforts to build meta-cognitive and emotional competencies.

It used to be that leadership was transferred to individuals after many years of education and apprenticeship. People (men) were brought through the ranks of industry, clergy, nobility and military and were taught the skills needed to hold power responsibly. This process was obviously not always successful, but at least it was in place. Now, power has now shifted from formal individual and small group leadership, to leadership by the amorphous masses. And in our current revolution, there are no checks and balances in place at all.

Is this a good thing? In the next few years, as the estates of traditional power disintegrate completely, we will have to see.

Reality is Broken - Jane McGonigal

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Jane McGonigal stares out me from her book photo like an ethereal fairy from Lord of the Rings. She looks more like model in an editorial for a fashion magazine than a game designer. As a beautiful, game-designing, global, PHD graduated speaker her coolness rating is intimidating.

But don't let this put you off. Her new book: Reality is Broken (2011) is a fantastic cross boundary resource for activists, game designers, development professionals and business people and I highly recommend it.

Not only does it give a solid introduction to 21st century understandings of what is 'real', but it also presents a number of different case studies showing how game mechanisms are used for marketing, learning, fundraising, and social engagement.

Here are few excellent case studies from the book for you to follow up:

Quest to Learn - is the only school in the US (for age 6 to 12) completely embracing game based learning. Students go on 'quests' and secret missions; exchange expertise online to support each others projects and entirely blend their real world lives with their education. It is inspirational and makes our current efforts at 'blended learning' look archaic.
Foursquare - is a way of using mobile phone applications to create spontaneous social events and encourage people to explore cities. It rewards you for going to certain places and venues: go often enough and you become a 'mayor' and receive freebees and special priviledges. Great marketing for venues - interesting way of connecting with colleagues and mates.
Free Rice - is a non-profit game that is designed to help gamers battle hunger while they play. Everytime you answer a multichoice vocabularly question correctly you earn virtual rice grains. You stack up grains of rice with all your correct answers and at the end it is converted into real rice which is donated to the UN Food Programme. (Sponsor advertising pays for this)
Day in the Cloud - an airline game developed by Google Apps and Virgin America that allowed people to play an online game consisting of puzzles and creative challenges. You could be on the plane, or join in the action on the ground if invited by passengers via their Twitter and email accounts. A great way to kill time and enhance brand image of both companies.

There are also number of links to game design websites which I will provide at the bottom of this post. *Get the book! It is well worth a read no matter what your profession. At the very least your coolness rating may increase a nanonumber.

Reality is Broken
Games for Change
Games Beyond Entertainment
Games, Learning and Society Conference - an annual academic conference

*Am not getting a commission!

The World is Shaking

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:55:00 +0000

We live in interesting times. Ruptures are occurring in our physical and political infrastructure. Buildings and regimes are toppling around us. Moon phases, solar flares, climate change and capitalistic speculation have all been blamed…..but a common thread in all of this upheaval is the integration of the physical and digital realms through social media.

Social media (most prominently Twitter and Facebook) have been playing an increasing role in mobilising citizen activists. Whether it be generating uprising in the Middle East and Africa, or mobilising grass roots support for quake ravaged Christchurch; social media and crowd-sourcing dynamics are now at the centre of the revolution we see around us.

I write this a few minutes after watching a television news item about the Rangiora Earthquake Express an brand new NGO running supplies and hot meals into the quake zone using helicopters. The CEO has just said that they have run out of money for jet fuel and are desperately calling for donations. I am now watching donations and comments stream into their Facebook page - thousands of dollars are pouring into their account minute by minute.

People donate money and goods and immediately receive appreciation in the form of comments or ‘likes’. Facebook’s fast feedback system gives instant gratification and appreciation in a way that previous forms of fundraising where unable to achieve.

You can see why revolutionaries are also addicted to this form of mobilisation. A call goes out and thousands can come together in a few minutes. Meaningful interaction is possible in moments, even seconds You can make a difference through your computer – or in a large city square. With the hit of a ‘button you can be part of something bigger – step one foot deeper and there you are waving a banner, digging out silt, baking a cake to feed the hungry...and others instantly reward you for your efforts. It is addictive.

And now I am involved. I have been sending links and numbers to REE as they wall post items they need urgently to helicopter into the quake zone. They called for water – I sent a list of companies with supply lines they asked for dust masks – I sent an email to 3M (NZ’s supplier of masks). Rangiora Earthquake express asked me to phone them…I talked to one of their organisers and texted her the 3M contact details. I am a researcher and connecter – I can make a difference. I am simultaneously interacting in both the physical and digital space.

Others are doing the same and much more – one woman finds a man selling dust masks on a trading website, she phones the supplier and he will now donate them to the quake effort. I send a ‘like’ to her. Another person rings water supply companies, another is sourcing aviation fuel. Others closer to the site physically drive out supplies. People sitting in their homes on a Sunday afternoon are working together to source whatever is needed and deliver it any way possible to the people on the ground.

This case study of the integration of physical/digital/social spaces is just one example of what is occurring around the world. I would argue that it is not a social media revolution but more a socio-spiritual revolution. Meaning is now being generated through a complex web of digital and physical interaction rather than being supplied from one supreme authority or dogma. Spiritual guidance and solace is occurring in multiple realms rather than just one physical space (such as a Mosque or church). I will dwell on this a while and write more in another post….

Donate to Rangiora Earthquake Express here and the Christchurch Red Cross Appeal here.
For great article on the use of social media in politics look at Clay Shirkey’s recent contribution to Foreign Affairs

Afternote:

Last Tuesday, 22 February at 12.51pm, I walked towards the car park building in Auckland where my car had been stored that morning. At that very minute (I know because for some reason I checked the time) I made a note to myself to check the Earthquake prediction site of Ken Ring - I had been told by a friend that he was correlating seismic activity with Moon and tidal movements and had had some degree of success. On arrival home 30 minutes later, the Google news feed alerted me to the rupture that had occurred to the heart of Christchurch - and the weird coincidence that my thought had occurred at the exact time of the Earthquake. I didn’t’ check Ken’s site again until today and see that he is now predicting another event in and around the 20th of May. Lets all hope he is wrong!

Virtual Walking Tours for iPhone Adventurers

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:36:00 +0000

Ever wanted to tour a city but not get on a bus to do it? Or wanted to discover the hidden secrets of a destination rather than be guided through the main tourist traps? GPSmycity seems to have found an answer with their city walk iPhone app.

All you do is download the application (for a small fee) and it will guide you around your city of choice. A virtual tour guide designed for your pace and your interests.

The idea started when the organisation’s founder, Jim Zhu, an avid collector of 15th-19th century maps, became frustrated when he was unable to find a guide that would steer him to antique shops where he could hunt for more treasure. As a veteran of Silicon Valley he decided to come up with a solution via iPhone apps. Apparently GPSmycity now publishes city walk iPhone apps for over 180 cities, with new destinations being added daily – most recently including Auckland and Wellington.

If any of you wish to try out this application readers GPSmyCity.com is offering you (readers of this blog) the chance to win three free city walk iPhone applications. But you will have to answer the following 10 questions about Wellington first:

1. What was the name of the horse that the Duke of Wellington rode at the battle of Waterloo? a) Copenhagen; b) Paris; C) London

2. Wellington is the world's.........? a) sunniest capital b) most southern capital c) most densely populated capital
3. Wellington has the most hectic [?] ... in the South Pacific. a) Airport b) Port c) Nightlife
4.Who are the biggest contributors to New Zealand's Tourism earnings: a) the British b) the Australians c) the Americans

5. How many national anthems does New Zealand have? a) 2 b) 3 c) 4

6. New Zealand is one of the world's leading exporters of dairy products. How many kilograms of butter does New Zealand produce per capita? a) 50 b) 100 c) 200

7. Wellington has ranked [?] … in the world in a quality of living survey held by Mercury in 2009: a) 7^th b) 22^nd c) 12^th

8.Wellington became the capital of New Zealand in:a) 1905 b) 1865 c) 1795

9. Name the oldest building in Wellington. It was built in 1858. a) the Colonial Cottage b) the Futuna Chapel c) the Opera House
10.One of the curious facts about Wellington is that it has more … per capita than New York. a) pubs b) shops c) cafes

Yikes! You really have to work for your apps these days! But if you answer the questions you can have fun walking around the city of your choice. Send your responses to quiz@gpsmycity.com and let me know who it goes......

Evolution and Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:49:00 +0000

The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy attending the SCANZ 2011 Eco sapiens event at Owae Marae in Taranaki and Co-Lab workshops on social and mobile media.

Ecosapiens Conference

This year's location of the Ecosapiens Conference at a radical Marae in Taranaki, NZ, added an interesting element to proceedings. I must admit that at times it felt uncomfortable for me and too reminiscent of intercultural dynamics and rhetoric from the 1980's and 90's. That said, the local and internationally sourced participant group were one of the most diverse (and tolerant) I have encountered, and the atmosphere allowed for a degree of informal connection and conversation you don't often get when there is formal arts/academic involvement.

Highlights for me included former Foam colleague, Angelo Vermeulen's talk on BIOMODD: a computer recycling/biology experiment/multiplayer game/community development/sculpture project. Angelo works intensively with teams across a variety of international locations to put together art/bio/technology/game pieces which stimulate the imagination and foster collaboration across boundaries. They seem to involve little micro-habitats where computer parts feed, and are in turn fed by, biomatter of different kinds (e.g. algae). Creepy, yet interesting and engaging.

(On the basis of his innovative work he has recently been commissioned to consult with the European Space Agency - assisting them with designs for other-world habitation technologies.)

Another friend, Karen Ingam talked about her fantastic project 'pollinating frocks'. The frocks are the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration with entomologists, botonists, microscopists, surface pattern technologists and print and coating engineers. She worked with this diverse team to create a range of day and evening ware aimed at fashion forward, starving butterflies and moths. The creations are beautiful and very wearable and will allow you to feed insects as you flit about your duties in urban cities. She is currently in negotiation to sell the garments and accessories commercially and have profits generated sent to organisations trying to save rapidly declining pollinating insect species.

There were some great small group discussions and some other interesting presentations - all of which seemed to be nourished by the relaxed, organic atmosphere. However, I felt that, up to the time I left, open honest and ground breaking discussion was greatly hampered by the political and ideological undercurrents generated by the hosts of the marae, and the constraints of NZ cultural protocols. Maori world views (and first arrival/first nation views generally) provide a rich counterpoint to traditional scientific paradigms, but their wholesale adoption are not an answer in themselves. This is especially important to consider in light of the mass extinctions and forest clearances that have occurred in many nations by supposedly 'enlightened' cultures and traditional societies. I would personally favour an integral approach to issues like climate change - or at least one where all points of view had some sense of validity.

As an on again-off again member of the organising group for this event I have to say (after a few years of running similar events) it is extremely difficult to organise interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary gatherings - particularly when the topic is as complex and contentious as climate change.

Co-Lab/Mohawk Media Workshops

I can highly recommend Helen Baxter of Mohawk Media as a presenter and trainer of all things new, interesting and technology based. Her passion, depth of expertise and high voltage delivery style were a joy to be around - her Social and Mobile Media Masterclasses were excellent.

At the end of the two half-day sessions I felt slightly overwhelmed at the enormous rate of change that is happening right now- and the implications for me as a consultant, student and teacher. To get a sense of this rate of change, take a look at one of the links Helen gave us in the Social Media session....

Helen covered everything from the latest technological advancements (e.g. QR codes - an example of which is featured as an image at the top of this blog), to a vast range of different online arenas that are fundamentally changing the way we shop, socialise, demonstrate, and organise our lives. For those of you, like me, who find all of this a bit overwhelming there is even a site for us called hootsuite.com where you can attempt to manage all of your online identities and information flows.

I tried out an iphone for the first time and shot a 30 second promo for the TechStyles exhibition with Steve Rood (a fellow attendee) as the very able presenter. I used Qik.com to immediately send the footage to youtube although our agreement with the exhibition people does not allow me to show you the finished version. I am now inspired to beg, borrow or steal a similar phone and begin sending reports to this blog.

For those of you either overwhelmed or disinterested in the latest hybrid technologies and practices there is a growing movement of technological luddites who have decided to bury their head in the collective sand and ignore the changes happening around them. To them I say good luck!

Consciousness News

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:32:00 +0000

Just noticed that the Institute of Noetic Sciences has a new online magazine with the latest news on all things transpersonal and consciousness related. Check it out here: http://www.noetic.org/noetic/archive/

The Magic Lantern

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:13:00 +0000

Tucked away on Brunswick Street in Melbourne is a portal to a world of zoetropes, phenakistiscopes all sorts of other pre-technology cinematic devices. The Magic Lantern is simultaneously a urbane toy-shop, an alternative entertainment centre and an informative inner city museum. Inside you will find the magical and the macabre - all items defy easy categorisation.

Disturbing ventrillocuist dummies leer at you as you generate your hand held animations and films. Puppets dangle and dance in the wind alongside reproduction texts, and cabinets filled with the weird and the wonderful. The Bruegelesque dolls and models in the shop window entice you inside. Once you are through the door there is no escape.

Lucy and Gonzalo started the business only 5 weeks ago and since that time they have been generating a following. Both owners are artists with some fascinating work displayed in the back areas of the shop. Their vision is to commission Melbourne artists to create their own animation strips and slides which will be combined with the projectors and scopes you can purchase in the shop. Well worth a visit if you are travelling to Melbourne: 155 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

Purchasing Utopia

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:51:00 +0000

Tonight I learnt about Fordlandia.

Fordlandia was an experiment by Henry Ford (in 1928) to create a pre-fabricated town in the middle of the Amazonian Rainforest. He wanted to harvest rubber while engaging in a social experiment to replicate American living conditions for the workers. Unfortunately the local workers did not enjoy being forced into live in hot concrete houses, to eat horrible hamburgers and to work to a mechanised western timetable. They rebelled. In their first act they destroyed the clocks that had oppressed them and then chased their managers into the jungle.

(I read an interesting article about time recently by Felipe Fernández-Armesto. He talks about how we have lost track of the natural cycles of seasons and how we are now socialised into mechanism.)

But I digress. I was talking of Utopia.

Many Utopian towns and societies exist around the world including corporate sponsored versions such as The Celebration Community in Florida (originally commissioned by the Walt Disney Corporation) and Bournville (fashioned by Cadbury and the Quakers). They all seem to have in common the desire to create an enclave within consensus reality -a place where social and physical gates exclude the anomalous and abhorrent; a place where identity is defined by collectivity rather than self.

This makes me wonder whether, through the purchase of a house in a certain area, a certain kind of car and certain kind of job are we not all, to some extent, attempting to purchase utopia.

Fords’ workers rebelled. In some ways they had an easy target to rebel against – they were forced to submit to an alien reality that caused them great suffering. But how many of us rebel against the utopian reality that is prescribed for us via corporations selling us products; via governments selling us stable society; via religions or spiritual movements selling us enlightenment.

Our suffering is less obvious but is present. It is present when we struggle to pay our debt; when we wake up and wonder what we have done with our lives; when we go to sleep lonely and empty - devoid of passion but filled with a craving for material security.

It seems to me it is hard to create a revolution against an oppressor that is nameless and all encompassing.

A list of top 20 essential works of Utopian Fiction was sent to me a fellow blog author this week (Tim Handorf). That together with the information about Fordlandia (supplied by Luc Peters this evening) makes me wonder if I am getting a message to pay more attention to my own utopian imaginings. I wonder what I believe to be my perfect world and how much have I sacrificed already to achieve it.

Augmented Reality and the New World Order

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:58:00 +0000

You look through a magazine and see something that catches your eye - maybe a car, a handbag, a new gadget-you want more information about it.

Instead of typing in the URL or ringing the stockist’s number, you can now simply ‘snap’ a small code on the picture and information is instantly streamed into your mobile phone. This same technology allows you to point your phone at a crowd and instantly find all the people who are ‘tweeting’ or on Facebook – or walk through a national park and have information about flora and fauna stream into your phone as you walk through a trail.

Augmented reality smart phone applications and mobile tagging are some of the most rapidly evolving, and potentially revolutionary, technologies in the market today. They are set to change the way we do business, the way we learn and how we conduct our day to day lives.

I recently attended LATENT 2010 and a venue for educators and technologists to come together and learn how emerging technologies can contribute to learning and education in NZ. Steve Wheeler from the University of Plymouth gave a great overview of some of the changes happening in education around the world as a result of the digital revolution and developments in Augmented Reality. His presentation is online and worth a flick through.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Chris South from Contrast Media yesterday. He came and spoke to students in my class about mobile tagging and augmented reality and the impact of these technologies on the way we do business. He also provided some insight into the changing nature of technological entrepreneurship and how cloud management practices have lowered barriers to the marketplace. Take a look at their website to view the leading edge in marketing.

It was clear from hearing both Steve and Chris, that the developed world is in for dramatic change in the next 3 years. 3D printing, wearable technology, portable worlds and cloud computing practices are the tip of an iceberg of technological innovation that will make the real and the virtual increasingly indiscernible. I would predict that, at the same time, the trend in handcrafts and back-to-basics living will exponentially increase as 21st Century Luddites grow in number. Backlash is inevitable - we are human after all……at least for now.

A Two Month Artistic Blind Date

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:26:00 +0000

Renee Liang is a woman who hunts for hidden stories. In her work as a paediatrician she looks for the story underlying why a patient has come to see her; as a playwright and poet she looks for stories running underneath our everyday lives. Renee is also a matchmaker for creative practitioners, and together with her colleagues Christian Jensen, Rosetta Allan, James Allan and Meng Koach she is part of the crew who are organising Metonomy. Friends Hannah May Thompson and Makyla Curtis were part of the original group who dreamed up Metonymy after seeing how such a project could spark up their community.

Metonomy matches visual artists and literary artists to collaborate on a project combining both their talents. The vision is to connect people together across genres, and expose creative practitioners to new ideas and practices. All of this is within a context that is fun, informal and as much about building long term relationships as it is about ‘producing’ quality output. There are some added incentives to commiting to the project, however: a chance to get selected for the 6 -week long visual arts exhbition at Corbans Estate Arts Centre, and to perform works at a number of events within that time period. All these events are recognised as part of Going West Festival.

Metonomy evolved out of a conversation between friends over a coffee, and now, with small amounts of funding and sponsorship, it is in its 3^rd successful year. There are currently 56 ‘couples’ working together on interdisciplinary projects. According to Renee, about 90% of these couples will complete the two month working period and go on to display work, publish or perform. The idea is that at the end they will have created a work of exhibition quality, but, perhaps more importantly, they will have learnt from each other and formed partnerships that last well beyond the exhibition process.

And what makes a successful collaboration? According to Renee it is a combination of generosity and open-mindedness. You need to be open to new ideas and to trying something outside your field of expertise. You must also be willing to share – which in today’s paranoid and scarcity based environment takes a great deal of courage. The most successful partnerships involve each person in the partnership stepping outside of their traditional professions and playing in the space between their respective worlds.

Metonomy has evolved into a well regarded, innovative, inclusive and generative project. Support their vision and see the exhibition at Corban Estate Art Centre (Auckland, NZ) 2 September to 16^th October, 2010.

Mapping out Disaster with Kites and Balloons

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:33:00 +0000

The huge oil slick sitting off the South-East United States is an environmental tragedy of epic proportions. But it has also provided an opportunity for citizens to come together to fight for their economic and ecological survival. One group assisting them in this process is Grassroots Mapping who are ingeniously using kites, balloons and other 'home made' flying items to photograph and record the slick for future environmental and legal use. They are encouraging public access to spill imagery and are loading all material into the public domain. This project is another great example of the trend towards democratising technology and science - in this case providing a useful complement to official images produced by BP and the US Government. (Thanks to Raewyn Turner for forwarding me this item).

Wisdom 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:37:00 +0000

What is it like to yes to technology AND to say yes to an inner life and consciousness? How can technology be utilised to further growth in consciousness?

Wisdom 2.0 was a conference dedicated to these topics and now has a number of videos available for viewing. Representatives from Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and Twitter interacted with leaders in the meditation/yoga/consciousness expansion industry. Some if it is worth a look....http://www.wisdom2summit.com/Home

Growing Organic Houses

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:18:00 +0000

How would you like to grow your own home out of meat? Agast vegetarians need not worry, the meat is created in a laboratory not culled from sentient creatures. Perhaps those of you wishing to start a community would like to grow your houses by manipulating trees and shrubbery. Apparently all of this is possible. Take a look at this Ted Talk for a taster: http://www.ted.com/talks/mitchell_joachim_don_t_build_your_home_grow_it.html

(Thanks to Dave Griffiths from the Groworld community for forwarding the link).

Came upon a giant patch of Fly Agaric fungi recently as part of my Interdimensional Investigation Project. Fungi are a facinating and absolutely magical organism. I would love to live in a house grown out of fungi....well actually given how damp my house is at the moment my wish has probably come true. Alas.

What colour is the sacred....?

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:51:00 +0000

Tiffany Singh has put together an interesting show at the MIC Toi Rerehiko Gallery in Auckland. Part of her work is a documentary featuring artists discussing their work in the area of social responsibility - which includes several excerpts from an interview she did with me.

The other part involves wax images of a variety of sacred symbols (e.g. Buddha, an apple, Mother Mary), identical in shape but different in colour.

What makes it interesting is that visitors to the gallery can exchange some form of personal art for one of these images: a song, a poem, a picture, while they view the documentary. Through the process of exchange participants become connected to one another, and there is a tangible record of the small social network that has been created. Show is open until 1 May, 2010.

A little publication...

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Hi all, I have been feverishly working on a large creative project I am launching in 2010, so alas no blogs for months. But here is a little publication that came about through my Foam residency - funded by Culture 2000 Framework of the European Commission. Enjoy. http://nadine.be/tricksters-unction-alternate-realities-maggie-buxton

Eco Sapiens

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:25:00 +0000

SCANZ: 2009 was an interesting experience. So interesting, that it prompted me to join the team creating the next SCANZ event in 2011 - Eco Sapiens.

What are we facing? Extinction or adaption? Evolution or revolution?

These are some of the questions we are working with, within an interdisciplinary frame. Scientists, artists, technologists, permaculturalists, activists and others are invited to send in submissions; we are hoping to get a great group of people together.

The local botanic gardens and the shoreline of Taranaki, NZ, will be the main spaces to 'exhibit' the resulting works. It is hoped these will be longer term exhibitions that play a productive role in the local community, and support the plantet.

Take a look here for the full write up (http://www.intercreate.org/view/eco-sapiens)

On another, rather incongruous, and hypocritical note, I am a huge fan of the Huntly Power Station. There is something otherworldly about it that reminds me of childhood comic books and science fiction novels. Look at its marvelous modernist lines - functionalism in its highest form. (sigh).

Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:32:00 +0000

Mapplethorpe introduced me to the sexuality of flowers (all those erotically photographed lilies and tulips). Of course the orchid is the most licentious of the lot; a recent visit to the Wonderland Exhibition at the Auckland Museum proved this.

Wonderland has certainly been hyped in the local media as a kind of multimedia extravaganza. I wouldn't say that. It does have some quirky touches that make it an amusing distraction on a wet day.

For a start they persuaded Mika, a local drag queen, to be filmed in various costumes reciting poetry and telling stories about orchids. The short clips were then made accessible to the public via touch screens, situated in a small gallery that is interspersed with orchid related art.

They also have some smelling tubes for people to guess scents, some 3D orchid picture viewing posts, and a large selection of real orchids for you to view (and in some cases buy).

On the more disturbing end of the scale, a large screen shows a film clip of a bee furiously humping an orchid. The poor deluded insect has been persuaded by the flower that it is its mate, and while it is trying to mate with the flower it is stuck with extremely large globs of pollen for its trouble. (There is moral for all of us in this sad tale!)

My favourite aspect of the experience was the hybridizing machine. This was a software programme (again on a touch screen) that allows you to manipulate and create orchids. When you are done you can email the finished specimens to yourself. The purple flower at the beginning (left) of this post is my creation, and another one can be seen here.

While the exhibition isn't state of the art, it is innovative in NZ museum circles. I certainly give the creators points for upscale merchandising to go with it (think posh tea-towels and handbags). Worth a look if you are in Auckland (exhibition closes November 8th).

people lending

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:25:00 +0000

..how would you like to go to a library, and instead of borrowing a book you borrow a person? You can “borrow” a Muslim; a police officer; a person suffering mental health issues; a gay guy; or a young person expelled from school. You can then have a 30 minute conversation with them which potentially challenges stereotypes you may not realise you even had. A great way to engage with other realities and build your meta-cognitive muscle. Check it out here...

space, place and the nature of reality

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:20:00 +0000

Explore the nature of reality from indigenous and western science perspectives at the Space and Place - The Language of Spirit conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, August this year.

This dialogue is the latest in a series started in 1992 by the late David Bohm and Leroy Little Bear JD, (former Director of Native Studies at Harvard). They originally brought together a meeting of the minds between quantum physicists, Native American scholars, and linguists to discuss the underlying principles of the Universe, not from an adversarial point of view, but out of mutual respect for the differences in world views. Since then, a core group of participants, plus occasional guests, have gotten together approximately once a year to continue the dialogue process

Audio tapes and written transcriptions of past dialogues are available, and it may very well be worth the 60 or so US dollars if the list of past participants is anything to go by.

mobile activism and techno community tools

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Grant Corbishley (Snr Lecturer at Wellington Institute of Technology and expert in cross disciplinary engagement) has kindly sent me a number of great links related to mobile activism and techno community building tools. Uncategorisable objects and ungenreable activities aboundJ

The SMS Guerrilla Projector is a device that allows people to project text messages onto other people, buildings and public spaces. Fantastically subversive, it currently seems to be used for either arts or marketing purposes but would be interesting as part of a campaign for activists (hence the name perhaps).

With a similar but different purpose the Graffiti Gun Camera adds material into people’s photos by ‘firing’ images and text onto public spaces - unseen by passers by but logged by their cameras.

Mobichange is a mobile social networking site/tool that is multi-lingual and open source and designed for people to access via voice and sms. It is designed for people who have a mobile phone as their only computing device and have limited skills in English - people who want to meet others and/or need to moblize to take collective action in grass roots communities.

Tactical Sound Garden is another open source based platform this time helping people to cultivate sound gardens in shared public spaces. Using a Wifi enabled mobile device (pda, mobile phone, laptop) people can plant sounds in and around their cities that can then be picked up via headphones connected to those same devices. A fantastic way to stimulate the imagination and connect digital, imaginal and physical spaces. (Similar technology to some of that created by the A.R.T Mobile Lab of Banff New Media Institute mentioned in an earlier post)

And finally Kitchen Budapest is a new media lab based in Hungary with some incredible talent working on a vast array of projects that connect mobile and new media technologies with spaces, cultures and communities. The cyclists among you will greatly appreciate their Bycall Project which lets bicyclists transmit a warning signal to cars (via their radios) within a 15 minute radius. A flick through their project page will inspire you for weeks to come!

Thanks again Grant!

PS: don’t forget ANAT’s Portable Platforms as another great source of mobile inspirations.

un-fictional onions

noreply@blogger.com (maggie b) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Peabody prize winning website The Onion is a fantastic fake online news portal. Subversive satire mixes with the just plain silly in a way that only The Daily Show can match. Flick through the articles in today's Onion and amuse yourself while learning what is happening in current events.

Un-fiction at its best.